Following the team with a unique perspective on all things Phillies.Email me: PhilliesPhollowers@comcast.net – Peace, Love & Baseball – Jenn

Spring Games Set To Begin

The Phillies take to the field tonight for the first real action of Spring Training in an exhibition game against Florida State.JA Happ will be the starting pitcher followed by Phillippe Aumont, Yohan Flande, Drew Naylor, Joe Savery, Jesus Sanchez and David Herndon.All eyes will be on Aumont as he was one of the prospects the Phillies got in the Cliff Lee trade.Many are anxious to see if the risk will pay off.

Shane Victorino has been left off the starting line-up for precautionary reasons.Victorino has been suffering from a sore shoulder and the team will likely not want to push him.It does not seem serious, but it is usually better to be safe than sorry.John Mayberry Jr. will fill in at center and Greg Dobbs gets the nod as the DH.But as is usual in Spring games, the starters will probably not play long, giving the team a chance to look at some prospects.Game time is 7:05pm.

The game everyone is waiting for though is tomorrow’s match up against the Yankees with Roy Halladay on the mound.It will be the team’s first look at their off-season prize in live game action.The talk about Halladay’s work ethic, poise and electric arm has been non-stop since he signed.Finally, it is time to see some results.Tomorrow’s game starts at 1pm and will be carried on Comcast Sportsnet and then replayed on The MLB Network at 7pm.

And now for the disturbing news of the week:Phillies fans know Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning as the man who pitched the only perfect game in Phillies history on June 24, 1964 which happened to be Father’s Day as well.Considered one of the best Phillies players in history, Bunning is also one of only six pitchers ever to throw both a perfect game and a no-hitter in his career.So as a baseball player, Bunning gets two thumbs up.As a politician, not so much…

Bunning has served in the Kentucky State Senate since 1998 and in 2006, Time magazine dubbed him one of “America’s Five Worst Senators.”He routinely misses Senate floor votes and on Christmas Eve 2009, he was the only senator to skip the vote on the historic health care reform bill.Adding more fuel to the fire this month, Bunning single-handedly blocked a 30-day extension of federal unemployment benefits when more than 200,000 unemployed Americans were set to lose benefits.The proposal of unanimous consent on any legislation like this is generally reserved for situation where no one is going to object.Essentially, the proposal is thought to be a no-brainer….that is, for everyone on the planet except Jim Bunning.

The Senate was attempting to avoid a massive hit to the economy and considered the extension an emergency.After receiving public spankings from both Democrats and Republicans, Bunning finally relented on Tuesday night and the legislation was passed, but not before Bunning made a total as*s out of himself. Wait a second, I though the “as*s” was the symbol of the Democratic party?

We still love you in Philly Jim, but please, do America a favor and get out of politics while you still have some dignity left.Let us all remember you as the guy who tossed the only Phillies perfect game and not the guy who tried to make 200,000 angry, unemployed people storm his house, tie him and up and force him to watch tape of the 1964 Phillies collapse; they dropped 10 consecutive games at the end of the season and lost the Division after being in first place with a 3-game lead.This type of torture is cruel and unusual punishment.Please, don’t make us do it…we don’t want to remember that year either.

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5 Comments

No comment on Bunning. A** doesn’t begin to describe him as a politician. On a much brighter note, I’m looking forward to Thursday’s Yanks-Phils game too. I know you’ll love having Halladay front your rotation. He really is special.

So have no comment on Bunning cause he is an AS* however Halladay was phenomenal today, and yes spring training game, but the Phil’s spoiled the Yankee come back, I could almost hear the Yankee fans cheering in the top of the 9th then screaming oh Sh*t in the bottom… still felt good no matter how unimportant the game may have been…:-)
~peter
Outside the Phillies Looking Inhttp://devilabrit.mlblogs.com

there was a political cartoon in my student paper today with Bunning. him flippin off unemployed workers. the finger was censored out and i never understood what exactly went down til i saw your post. thanks for educaing this political inept college studenthttp://pittpeas.mlblogs.com

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